Later on this post gets a bit personal, but I've known Ross for 4 years now. But before that I think the analysis is fairly unbias :)
I’m not going to write an individual preview for all of
Footlocker, so if you’re looking for that I’d check out http://www.flotrack.org/coverage/250978-Foot-Locker-XC-Championships-2013/article/23780-Boys-Foot-Locker-Championship-Preview-Templeton-Maton-and-the-top-15
. Frankly I think his picks are quite good and no reason for me to repeat most
of what he put down. Since this is a PA oriented blog, I will talk about Ross
Wilson, the only PA guy to make it.
I’ll be honest I thought there would be at least two PA guys
to make it this season, but we had a good showing at Nike Regionals, which
seems to be the new place to be for the top runners. This shocks me mostly
because of how poor the course is usually out at Portland due to, well Portland
weather. This year’s snow was a blessing and we saw a CR on both sides. (I know
100% it was for guys, not sure about girls, but I’d have to imagine that trio
pushed it close).
It’s often tough for me to talk about CRN guys. I know that
sounds stupid , but I know most of the workouts he hits so I know more about
him than the other guys who I just see race on Saturdays. He’s hit 5x1k @ sub
3, recently killed mile repeats and dropped a 54 quarter to end it. He’s definitely
in the sickest shape of his life and I think he could really come up big at San Diego, at least for a guy who placed 10th in the region. It was a
very fast year and Wilson was clearly just going for the Q. Aft looking at the
competition here is where he stacks up on an ideal day. I stress the word
ideal.
West- 5, South – 4, Northeast – 3, Midwest – 5.
Those are the #’s of guys who I believe could beat him out
of these regions despite a big day from Wilson, putting him ~18th at
best. I think it’s reasonable to assume he’ll be stacking up from 25-35 which
is usually a pretty tight pack. I think if Wilson has his head on right and
really goes for it he can push forward to be in low 20’s with 800 to go and
fades just slightly to ~25th. I’ll be honest, I don’t know how many
people have ever placed 10th in their region and went on to get
All-American, but I’d have to imagine it is very low. (I’ll do full research on
this after my final)
This being said, Ross I watched you come in as a wide eyed
freshman with tons of talent who I had to outkick to beat in the first meet of
the season. I told myself I wouldn’t let you beat me that season, but I didn’t
manage to beat you again and you’ve exploded ever since. It’s been a real honor
to know you so well and watch you develop over the seasons and years. You
always dream big and I hope you continue to do so. It’s been beautiful to
watch. This may be your last XC high school race, but no matter what happens I’m
proud of where you’ve come from and what you’ve achieved. Best of luck at
nationals buddy.
--ForrestCRN
...but we had a good showing at Nike Regionals, which seems to be the new place to be for the top runners. Forrest, on what basis do you draw that conclusion?
ReplyDeleteI'm not totally sure what the question is asking, so I will attempt to address all possibly forms of it.
Delete1) Yes we had a very good showing at Nike Regionals and I thought a solid showing at NXN. It wasn't fantastic, but I thought we did well.
2) My conclusions for NXN being the new place can be shown by the top guys who are attending that meet vs. Footlocker this year. Girls race for footlocker has 10/15 of the top girls, but not the top 3 who are clearly ahead of the rest (no offense to Tessa Barrett and Co. who are all fantastic runners, but those 3 are on another level). Boys wise 10/25 went to NXN only (some go to both), and some top guy finishers like winner Kai Wilmot were not on the top 25 list. It seems that a slow, but general trend has been towards NXN. A lot of it is because top guys often are on top teams and wish to help carry them to the national stage. I think most people would rather travel with their teams than individually. This is speaking nationally about NXN.
3) As for Nike Regionals in the Northeast, I think it was fairly even this year between the Nike Regional meet and the FL regional meet in the northeast. I think Russell could have won either regional and guys like McClemens and O'Neill from NJ would have competed head to head with Alvarado and Ostberg.
4) And if you're asking about FL regionals in general I thought 2+ guys from the ones attending had a good shot at making it. Abert didn't have his day, nor did Deluca who are both fantastic talents.
And to answer the other question below this about Mile repeats I will leave that opened ended. I can't be at liberty to give away all of Wilson's workouts, those are confidential. The 5x1k repeats were with 200 jog recovery however. Chris Campbell didn't run workouts like that, nor to my knowledge did Capecci (who finished 21st at nationals).
Capecci went on to finish 3rd at the Penn Relays 3k, something I believe Wilson can do as well.
--ForrestCRN
I think you need an edit, he's running in San Diego. What did he do his mile repeats in and how many?
ReplyDeleteWilson was 10th but only 5 seconds from 6th...anything can happen.
ReplyDeleteThe girls at nxn broke the course record by over 30 seconds
ReplyDeleteRoss
ReplyDeleteRos
Ro
R
r
b
B
Bo
Bos
Boss
Coincidence?
You decide
You learn that at Penn? Impressive
DeleteWho is the wimp who cancelled the Lehigh meet today? It won't even start snowing until the afternoon there.
ReplyDeletePA don't play...they don't even show up.
DeleteIs the Lehigh meet canceled or are schools just not letting their teams go up?
ReplyDeleteThat being said, the girls had some impressive performances, especially out of the younger girls. Already my top 8's in some categories are changing. Mostly the DMR/4x800/800.
Lastly, when is the last successful decap/hep runner PA has had? Boy or Girl. It wasn't Ryann Krais was it? Holly Sullivan may be the next one. She won't be as good as Ryann Krais, but with some college training, I believe she'll be quite the athlete.
-RTJ